A Tunic Version of New Look 6340

I made another version of New Look 6340 and it was featured on the Sewcialist blog for the TNT series.

However, when I write a blog post for another blog I leave out a lot of the construction information and some of my motivation for why I did what I did.  That's what this blog post is about.  So if you've seen this garment on the Sewcialist blog, here is the "Behind the Seams" post about it.

Let's Talk Materials ~
2.5 yards of a printed wool flannel purchased from Emmaonesock several seasons ago
3 yards of yellow rayon bemberg from NY Elegant Fabrics
12" invisible zipper from Pacific Trimmings
Yellow rayon seam binding

A Few Design & Construction Details ~
First I really wanted a winter version of this dress but as it's gotten colder, I've realized that I'm in jeans and leggings for the foreseeable future. So a tunic version seemed a more realistic and wearable version than a dress.

I made a few design changes to this version. I added an invisible zipper to my denim version but it was in the back of the dress. For the tunic I moved the zipper to the front of the tunic. I was inspired by this photo that I found online from Heidi Daus (one of my favorite jewelry spots) this summer...

When I decided to go with the invisible zipper in the front of the garment, I went through the zipper stash and I had nothing I wanted. Since I now work in the midst of the garment district, a quick trip to Pacific Trimmings during lunchtime and I found a couple of contenders. 

The black zipper was shortened to 12" like the taupe/gray one

What I liked best about these choices is that the zipper tape was made from a heavier twill tape and was 5/8" wide. Because of the way the zipper was made, I didn't need to interface that front seam.

Since it's winter, I made the sleeves longer for warmth but of course that brought it's own challenges. I had to draft a sleeve using the short sleeve from the pattern and a sleeve I'm presently using for other patterns. It ends at my wristbone and could have been longer but I'm going with it.

The body of the tunic is lined in a yellow rayon bemberg but not the sleeves. Originally I lined them but they were tight and uncomfortable (guess I didn't have enough width in the biceps of the sleeve) so I removed the lining. I also had to lower the underarm seam by 3/4" to give me a better range of motion. Those are the only construction changes I made from my original versions.

A Few Pictures ~

Conclusion ~
As with any TNT pattern after I've worked out fit issues, I start messing with the design and construction of the garment. To me, that's the fun of a TNT pattern, that it can be anything I want it to be. However, that also means that I lose the quick and easy factor that sewing with a TNT provides. I can't say that I won't use this pattern again...but I am putting it away for now.

I made this top to wear to a work function so it's why the outfit is a little dressier than what I've been wearing. Will probably also end up wearing it to one of my Christmas parties this season too.

I do have some Christmas sewing I want to do, as well as start working on my winter sewing list. I need to get myself together because it will be Christmas and time for my winter sewing break. I have no plans to go away this Christmas break and hope to spend some quality time in the sewing cave.

Finally ~ here's a pic of the grandbabies and me

...as always more later!

The Rivermont Top

The Rivermont Pattern by Cashmerette has a top and a dress in it. 

After I started working on the dress, I got this great idea for a top and went off on a lark. See I've been inspired by a number of peplum tops that I've been saving from the Internet and Instagram. I thought this was the perfect pattern to make my creative imaginings come to fruition.

Let's start at the beginning with some inspiration photos ~

As you know, I made a test version of the dress. When I first thought of making a top, I considered tearing my tester version apart and trying to make it work. I checked but I didn't have enough of the original fabric left over to make the peplum probably because I'd fussy cut it to get the border to fit the dress.

So my next thought was to use the original top with an insert on the sides and use a black ponte for the peplum.  After picking up some black ponte, I changed directions again. 

A Supply List ~

Black Ponte from Metro Textiles

Black 'n White Houndstooth Poly by Maggie London from Fabric Mart (via the collection)

9" black invisible zipper

Rose applique from Joyce Trimmings

Pattern Alterations ~
These are the alterations I made to the pattern to make it mine.

Peplum Alterations first:

I lengthened and expanded the peplum to give it some flare. Since the peplum piece is used for the front and the back piece, I had to make two separate pieces to get the look I wanted.

1. I cut and spread the pattern so that hemline was widened by 2.5" next the front piece was lengthened by 3".  

2. The back piece was copied from the front piece.

3. Then it was lengthened 10" at the back hemline.

4. Using my curved ruler I curved the hemline up to meet the side seam.

5. Next I cut two inserts into the peplum pattern. I picked an area near the back and one closer to the side seam. There was no formula for this. I eyeballed it thinking about how I wanted the peplum to hang over my behind.

6. Spreading the inserts, the one closest to the back fold was widened to 3.5" at the hemline.

7. The second insert closest to the side seam was widened to 2" at the hemline.

Final back pattern piece made from the cut & marked up original piece

Additional alterations made to the top ~
I raised the neckline by 1/2". I did this based upon my test dress version. It had a higher neckline than my pattern. I liked the original neckline better for me so I altered my front pattern also making sure to alter the front facing pattern piece too.

Construction Information ~

It's important to note that I got another idea as I was cutting the pattern out.  One of the things that is challenging to me about my Rivermont Dress is that I have to pull it over my head. People I'm an older woman who hates to exercise so my dexterity isn't as good as it was when I was a younger woman who didn't exercise. So I love a zipper!  And I realized that in a stable knit like a ponte that a zipper is a good thing, so I added a 9" invisible to the back seam.

This meant that the back neck facing had to be changed too. So instead of placing it on the fold I added a 3/8" seam allowance and cut it out as 2 separate pieces.

I added a lining to the peplum by cutting a second set of the peplum pieces from the silky poly fabric. First I stitched the silky lining to the ponte at the hemline. After the two pieces were sewn together, the seams were pressed open and flat. I added a line of stitching to the hemline of the peplum. The two pieces of fabric were then basted together at the waistline. I clipped it to a pants hanger and let the lined peplum hang for a day so I could see if the two fabrics worked against each other.  

Because I chose to add a lining to the peplum and a zipper to the back of the top, I changed the way I constructed the garment. As stated above the peplum was made first. The bodice was made second and I sewed it together as a single piece ~ however I did sew the sleeves into the bodice and then sewed the side seams together. The last step was to sew the bodice to the waistline and hem the sleeves.

Design Change ~

Besides giving the top's peplum more space and lengthening it in the back, I also appliqued a rose to the shoulder area. In the center of the rose, I placed a covered button made from some of the poly herringbone fabric. I thought it was a cute touch to draw all of the elements of the top together.

A few pictures of the Top ~

Giving the top a little twirl

Conclusion ~

This top first appeared on the Curvy Sewing Collective about a week ago. However, I didn't include the instructions on how to lengthen and enlarge the peplum...that information is included in this blog post. Also, this top pattern was included in the free pattern that I received from Cashmerette - yet again all opinions are mine.

Honestly between the dress and the top, I prefer the top. I will definitely make the top again using the regular peplum pieces instead of my altered pattern pieces. It's a great top that's very versatile, open to design inspiration, and will function well in my casual work wardrobe. 

This is an easy to sew and great wardrobe builder pattern. May I also say that I love that the pattern pieces all go together without any challenges adding to the ease of sewability for this pattern.  If you're looking for a great top pattern as a plus-size, curvy woman, definitely purchase the Rivermont pattern!

...as always more later!

  

Cashmerette's Rivermont Dress

Let me state up front that I was a tester for the Rivermont Dress pattern. Because I've had such great success testing Jenny's patterns, I used a beautiful piece of border print ponte for my test version. 

So of course, it didn't work for me. Now if this hadn't been a test garment I would have immediately gone to work fixing it to make it work...because it's made from my good border print ponte. But it was a test dress so I had to wait for the revised pattern.

When I made my first one it was the middle of summer and I could see wearing this dress into fall...still in my dress wearing calendar.  However, when I started working on my revised version, it was early November. Of course that meant my idea for how I wanted to wear this dress changed. I've been wanting some fall maxidresses and when I looked at the dress with new eyes, I realized it would make a great fall maxi.

Fabric Choice ~

The pattern suggests you use a ponte knit to make the dress. I used a dark floral Liverpool knit from LA Finch Fabrics for my version. The Liverpool is a stable knit and similar to a lightweight ponte.

Construction Information ~

1. I cut a straight size 24 for the bodice and the waistline for the dress. 

2. But I cut a 26 from the pocket area to the floor for the skirt of the dress. 

3. I also raised the neckline 1/2" because I liked the neckline that was on the original dress. I made sure that I changed the facing piece also.

4. Then I added 15" to lengthen/shorten line on the pattern and 2" to the hemline to maximize the skirt.

5. I used a 1/2" hem on the bottom of the dress. I wanted the maxi dress to hit at my ankles and not drag the ground. 

6. My sleeves are cut 3/4 length instead of full length, just because.

A few pictures of the dress ~

This is how I plan on wearing the maxi - with my RTW Jean Jacket

Conclusion ~
I will wear this dress but I don't love this dress.  And it's totally me...I still have a thing about waistline seams and it's so ingrained into my style psyche that if I don't love it when I put it on...it gets relegated to the back of the closet.

Now this says nothing about Jenny's pattern. All of the pattern pieces go together well. It's an easy sew and has a lot of potential for the right curvy, plus-size woman. I'm just not sure I'm that curvy woman. If this is your style, I highly recommend you purchase this pattern.

One more thing, like I said earlier, I was a tester of this pattern so received it for free.  However all of the opinions are mine.


...as always more later!

  

Simplicity 8303 - A Denim Coat

This was a project and honestly I'm an instant gratification kinda girl.  I don't mind taking a simple project and then throwing the kitchen sink at it and complicating the heck out of it.  However, actual longer projects give me pause which is probably why I don't make a lot of jackets. Somewhere near the end of making them, I start to whine. Don't believe me, ask Gaylen. LOL!

I really wanted to make the duster. I started out making the duster. I got to the point where the collar and front facings were on and it looked like a jacket. Thank goodness I had enough fabric leftover to cut out the sleeves...to make the jacket.

First a picture of the finished jacket~

The Pattern - Simplicity 8303 ~

Next a supply list ~
5 yards of a printed denim purchased recently from Chic Fabrics
1 yard of paisley printed cotton purchased from Mood Fabrics
5 yards of blue/white/black piping from Daytona Trimmings
A couple of yards of me made bias tape
1 elastic for the button loop
2 - 2" silver D rings from Pacific Trimmings
1" silver shank button from the collection

I made no pattern alterations. I cut a straight size 24 knowing that the jacket is supposed to be loose fitting. The only sewing change I made was to take wider seams at the front and back princess seams to narrow the shoulders. I will fix this on the pattern pieces so it will just work for the next version.

Cost to Make ~
The coat cost $54 to make. Not inexpensive but not exorbitant...and well worth the time and effort to make it. The fabric was $35 for the denim and cotton stretch paisley.  The notions cost $19 with the piping taking up most of the expense.

Design Decisions ~
I really didn't want to change much design wise on this pattern. At first I played with adding some epaulets to the shoulder seams to make the jacket look more trench-like but when I decided to add piping to the front and sleeves, it seemed a tad too much.

Here are the touches I added to make the denim jacket uniquely mine:

Piping:
I added piping to the collar, the fronts, the overlap and on the sleeves. There are no tips on how to apply piping in this post because I've detailed how I add piping to garments on the blog before. 

Bias Binding:
I really wanted to add bias binding to the exposed seams on the jacket. However, after putting the back together and topstitching it all down, it looked so nice and neat flat that I discarded the idea of adding it to the back seams. One of the side seams is covered by the front facing so I decided to press the side seams forward and topstitch them down. That only left the front facings exposed and that's where I decided to use the bias tape.

I haven't actually made my own bias tape from scratch in years. I could have gone to the sewing library but I wanted a tutorial that everyone could use and found a great one here. It's from the website, Make It, Love It. The instructions were easy and simple to follow and what I used to make the bias binding.

Sleeves:
I will admit that I have fat arms from the bicep to my elbow. Because of that I need to fix almost every sleeve I insert into a garment. Every.Single.One.

First thing was to measure the width of the sleeve and it's just a little too small. Now I could go through making the bicep larger but look at my first sentence. I have to add width all the way through. So I chose to use a sleeve I knew would work. I pulled the sleeve from my blouse pattern to start with...I went through my normal stages of making a pattern sandwich and adding the width. I also removed some from the sleeve cap to make an allowance for the extra width at the sleeve edges.

I cut the cuff part off and added 5/8" to the sleeve and the cuff. This was done to add piping to the sleeve hem. Once the piping was applied and the sleeve and cuff were sewn together.  Then the sleeve was sewn into the jacket.

After inserting the sleeve into the jacket, I hated the extra wide seam allowance and serged it down to 1/2" wide. It gave the sleeve edge a clean finish and made getting in and out of the jacket easier.  But I noticed when trying on the jacket that the tops of the sleeve were collapsing. So I added a shortened sleeve head just to the sleeve cap so it wouldn't buckle. A shoulder pad would accomplish the same thing, I just didn't want to add one.

Belt:  

The belt was made according to the instructions but I added rows of stitching down the length of the belt. Again another detail that no one will really notice but something that I really wanted. Honestly I didn't think that I would wear the belt and never made the belt carriers for the coat for that reason. However, after we took the pics...I really like the belt!

Finishing:
I cut 3" off the bottom of the jacket because it was lower midcalf length and once I switched to a jacket, I wanted it a little shorter.

For the sleeve hems, the hem of the jacket and the belt, I sewed multiple lines of topstitching. Because of the print of the denim, you can't see this topstitching but I'm fine with that. I know it's there and it weighs the hems and stops them from shifting. The duster has side seam slits. I omitted them for the jacket.

And if I haven't peppered this post with enough photos here are a few more:

 

Conclusion:
First a shout-out to Gaylen who put up with my bitching for three weeks as I made this! Second, thanks to all the Instagram Peeps who opined about piping and which one to choose. Finally, this pattern is an easy sew. Of course, adding piping and deciding to add sleeves at the last minute added some time to it's construction but I'm so thrilled with the final garment!

I plan on using the pattern again to actually make the duster. I have some lighterweight, flowy fabrics that will accomplish what I want so hopefully I will get to it before the winter is over!

However, now I have a brand new denim jacket to wear for fall/early winter and spring. A sweater will go under the jacket and it will go great with jeans or leggings. Also, I'm kinda in awe of the fact that I got this jacket made...

...as always more later!

A Little Somethin' Jacket

I purchased this pattern last December during my first trip to visit Gaylen at her B&B.  There is a cute quilt shop nearby that sells quilt fabrics and quilting accessories, The Old Country Store. This pattern was one of the things I picked up.

The pattern is called "A Little Somethin' Jacket" and it's produced by CNT Patterns. When I bought the pattern, I thought that I would make a cute spring/summer jacket. Of course I never got around to sewing one ~ so many patterns, not enough time.  

However, I was looking for something quick and easy to sew after the very challenging sew of Simplicity 2894. I'd washed and dried this rayon I purchased during the Jackson Heights Fabric Crawl...

...and it shrunk alot during the process. When I ironed it, the fabric sprung back into shape. I'd originally wanted another pair of wide legged pants but was leery of the fabric's reaction to heat. I could see my butt and knees bagging out unattractively in the finished garment. I set the fabric aside, but it stayed on my mind.

When I pulled this pattern out to use, the fabric was right there, so it was a perfect match. This really is a quick sew and a good palette cleanser. There are only three pattern pieces ~ front, back and sleeve. I lengthened the jacket's hem by 1" to add extra coverage in the back! I also lengthened the sleeve hem by 1". It was totally unnecessary to alter the sleeve hem and I won't do it for the next version.

It goes together easily with only a slight challenge inserting the front collar to the back neckline...just take care when pinning the two pieces together and you will be alright. Otherwise there was nothing else construction wise to note. 

A few pictures of the jacket ~

Only back shot we took because it was 

the end of a long day of photographing garments

I have way more of this type of picture ~

...and this is a calm one!  My daughter is a saint! *LOL*

Conclusion ~
I liked this pattern because it reminded me of all the kimono jackets that are still around. The weather is getting cooler. This is a perfect topper for chilly mornings that will still work when it warms up in the afternoon.  Come late fall/early winter it will work with a turtleneck under it. A perfect transition piece!

This was so fun, quick and easy to make that I will probably make another one, next spring! LOL! I've got a full fall/winter sewing list that I'm very inspired to get off the paper and into my closet.

Also one quick note - this was sewn and photographed in August but due to all of the National Sewing Month posts - this is just making it to the blog. It's the last of the late summer sewing...everything after this will be fall garments.

...as always more later!

Butterick 6486 in an Embroidered Black Rayon

As mentioned in an earlier post, I went by Chic Fabrics with Meg & Claire shortly before it closed the old location. Thankfully they have moved just one block over to 38th Street, near SIL Threads. It's sad though because there are now fewer and fewer fabric stores on 39th Street which is similar to what happened on 40th Street. 39th Street now seems like it's turning into eatery row...*sigh*

Anyway, I touched this fabric and knew it had to come home with me especially since it was similar to a voile embroidered piece I purchased from Stylemaker Fabrics earlier in the summer.

It's that time of year here on the East Coast where the mornings start out chilly so you need a jacket/sweater/topper which you remove around the middle of the day. I've found I like nice tops to go over straight leg jeans or leggings, now that the weather is cooling down.

Enter Butterick 6486...

The pattern combined with the black rayon is the perfect fall top!

Pattern Alterations ~
This is a loose-fitting top so I didn't need to make a lot of changes to the pattern pieces except for the sleeves. I added a wedge to the sleeve pattern with it being 2.25" wide at the largest portion.

I made the same alteration to the sleeve ruffle.  It wasn't necessary since you gather the sleeve ruffle onto the sleeve but I wanted to keep the original sleeve design.

Design/Construction Info. ~
I sewed the entire top together and it was huge. I started with an XXL based upon the measurements. I should have gone down one or two sizes because this is a really loose fitting top.

1.  That was just the start of the problems. 
2.  The neckline was too large. 
3.  The sleeves hung way too long.
4.  The top had too much space and I kept longing for a dart in it.

So I started with the sleeves. After ripping them apart I took 2" off the bottom of the sleeve and removed 1" from the hemline of the lower sleeve. Then sewed them back together.  The sleeves were still long but I added an extra deep hem to get them to the length I wanted.

One more thing, the pattern tells you to use french seams to construct the sleeve. I understand why they do...because if you hold your hands up you want a clean finish on the inside of the sleeve.  However, I skipped this step and was so glad I did when I had to make alterations to my sleeves.

To remove the excess space from the sides of the top, I ripped it apart.  Do you sense a theme here?! I then sewed 1" seams on either side of the top and on both sides of the bottom.  The top and bottom were then sewn back together.

Solving the too large neckline meant making a pleat in the front. Then adding a covered button from the embroidered fabric to make it a design decision rather than a fix of the loosey goosey neckline.

Pictures of the top ~

 

Conclusion ~
To me, it was a lot of work for a fast and easy pattern. I ended up with a wearable top but not without a lot of work. Also, it is a little difficult to get out of. If you already own the pattern and want to make it, I have a couple of words of caution.

1. Measure the pattern carefully and pick the smaller size. This is a very loose-fitting top.

2. Check the neckline. I was so worried about the shoulder seam, which works by the way, that I overlooked the width of the neckline.

3. Make sure the seam for the upper and lower sleeve hits you in the appropriate place. When I made it using the pattern & instructions, the sleeve hem was so far down my arm that it looked weird.  Shortening the upper sleeve by 2" put the seam back in the right place.

4. My version is longer than the pattern because I wanted to include all of the embroidered edge in the bottom. So I added 3 inches to the bottom and then hemmed it using a one inch hem.

BTW, I'm wearing the top with a pair of Spanx leggings. I love these and bought three pairs of them because not only are they comfortable but they suppress. You will see them again with more me made tops. I will wear this top because it's cute and it works but this pattern is a one and done. I have loads of top patterns and am moving on to the next one.

...as always more later!